A fantasy author discussing The Andy Griffith Show seems a bit odd, but this TV series is an out-genre masterpiece of characterizations, which a fantasy or science fiction author would do well to learn from. You’ll notice that my top ten are from the black and white episodes. Once The Andy Griffith Show went to […]

When I think about what makes an engaging character in a book, I begin to think on what it means to be a person. What is ‘me’? In writing science fantasy, I’m not interested in simply ‘human’. Human is a species. I want to know what it means to be a person no matter the […]

Invincibility is a story killer. The magic in fantasy or the technology in science fiction can be so awesome that nothing is able to stand against it. For storytelling, this is bad. Story needs conflict, a way to endure or overcome, a real chance of failure. If the hero is so endowed with greatness that […]

Time travel, ghosts, entities from another dimension. Now that’s great fantasy. But you mostly don’t think of Charles Dickens. More’s the pity. Fantasy A Christmas Carol is classic literature… and classic fantasy. The novel has what fantasy needs: Memorable characters going through extraordinary circumstances while facing daunting odds but eventually coming out victorious. In this […]

In reality and fantasy, individuals act out of differing motives and backgrounds. But all people have a core they are striving for, an inner itch they seek to scratch. Villains Our contemporary culture has given us some amazingly complex fictional villains, ones with overlapping motives and obtuse back stories. This is because real villains of […]

We fantasy readers want a champion we can root for, suffer with, struggle alongside, and ultimately cheer on. If our fantasy heroes too wondrous, too cold, or too inhuman, we are apt to quickly lose interest. And when you don’t care what happens to a story’s characters, the story’s sunk. Here are five traits with examples […]

Do fantasy characters need to floss? The short answer is yes, they need to floss. That is, if they want to keep their teeth. Real world necessities. Fantasy world necessities. Whichever. Necessities are… well, necessities. Watching Lord of the Rings I believe it’s no wonder the orcs are so cruel and cranky. I mean, have […]